1. Labor Code of the Philippines
BOOK SEVEN
TRANSITORY AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Title I
PENAL PROVISIONS AND LIABILITIES
Art. 288. Penalties. Except as otherwise provided in this Code, or unless the acts complained of
hinge on a question of interpretation or implementation of ambiguous provisions of an existing
collective bargaining agreement, any violation of the provisions of this Code declared to be
unlawful or penal in nature shall be punished with a fine of not less than One Thousand Pesos
(P1,000.00) nor more than Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than
three months nor more than three years, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of
the court.
In addition to such penalty, any alien found guilty shall be summarily deported upon completion
of service of sentence.
Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any criminal offense punished in this
Code, shall be under the concurrent jurisdiction of the Municipal or City Courts and the Courts
of First Instance. (As amended by Section 3, Batas PambansaBilang 70)
Art. 289. Who are liable when committed by other than natural person. If the offense is
committed by a corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or any other entity, the penalty
shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers of such corporation, trust, firm, partnership,
association or entity.
Title II
PRESCRIPTION OF OFFENSES AND CLAIMS
Art. 290. Offenses. Offenses penalized under this Code and the rules and regulations issued
pursuant thereto shall prescribe in three (3) years.
All unfair labor practice arising from Book V shall be filed with the appropriate agency within
one (1) year from accrual of such unfair labor practice; otherwise, they shall be forever barred.
Art. 291. Money claims. All money claims arising from employer-employee relations accruing
during the effectivity of this Code shall be filed within three (3) years from the time the cause of
action accrued; otherwise they shall be forever barred.
All money claims accruing prior to the effectivity of this Code shall be filed with the appropriate
entities established under this Code within one (1) year from the date of effectivity, and shall be
processed or determined in accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of the Code;
otherwise, they shall be forever barred.

2. Workmen’s compensation claims accruing prior to the effectivity of this Code and during the
period from November 1, 1974 up to December 31, 1974, shall be filed with the appropriate
regional offices of the Department of Labor not later than March 31, 1975; otherwise, they shall
forever be barred. The claims shall be processed and adjudicated in accordance with the law and
rules at the time their causes of action accrued.
Art. 292. Institution of money claims. Money claims specified in the immediately preceding
Article shall be filed before the appropriate entity independently of the criminal action that may
be instituted in the proper courts.
Pending the final determination of the merits of money claims filed with the appropriate entity,
no civil action arising from the same cause of action shall be filed with any court. This provision
shall not apply to employees compensation case which shall be processed and determined strictly
in accordance with the pertinent provisions of this Code.
Title III
TRANSITORY AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Art. 293. Application of law enacted prior to this Code. All actions or claims accruing prior to
the effectivity of this Code shall be determined in accordance with the laws in force at the time
of their accrual.
Art. 294. Secretary of Labor to initiate integration of maternity leave benefits. Within six
(6) months after this Code takes effect, the Secretary of Labor shall initiate such measures as
may be necessary for the integration of maternity leave benefits into the Social Security System,
in the case of private employment, and the Government Service Insurance System, in the case of
public employment.
Art. 295. Funding of the Overseas Employment Development Board and the National
Seamen’s Board referred to in Articles 17 and 20, respectively, of this Code shall initially
be funded out of the unprogrammed fund of the Department of Labor and the National
Manpower and Youth Council.
Art. 296. Termination of the workmen’s compensation program. The Bureau of
Workmen’s Compensation, Workmen’s Compensation Commission, and Workmen’s
Compensation Units in the regional offices of the Department of Labor shall continue to exercise
the functions and the respective jurisdictions over workmen’s compensation cases vested
upon them by Act No. 3428, as amended, otherwise known as the Workmen’s Compensation
Act until March 31, 1976. Likewise, the term of office of incumbent members of the
Workmen’s Compensation Commission, including its Chairman and any commissioner
deemed retired as of December 31, 1975, as well as the present employees and officials of the
Bureau of Workmen’s Compensation, Workmen’s Compensation Commission and the
Workmen’s Compensation Units shall continue up to that date. Thereafter, said offices shall
be considered abolished and all officials and personnel thereof shall be transferred to and
mandatorily absorbed by the Department of Labor, subject to Presidential Decree No. 6, Letters
of Instructions Nos. 14 and 14-A and the Civil Service Law and rules.

3. Such amount as may be necessary to cover the operational expenses of the Bureau of
Workmen’s Compensation and the Workmen’s Compensation Units, including the
salaries of incumbent personnel for the period up to March 31, 1976 shall be appropriated from
the unprogrammed funds of the Department of Labor.
Art. 297. Continuation of insurance policies and indemnity bonds. All workmen’s
compensation insurance policies and indemnity bonds for self-insured employers existing upon
the effectivity of this Code shall remain in force and effect until the expiration dates of such
policies or the lapse of the period of such bonds, as the case may be, but in no case beyond
December 31, 1974. Claims may be filed against the insurance carriers and/or self-insured
employers for causes of action which accrued during the existence of said policies or authority to
self-insure.
Art. 298. Abolition of the Court of Industrial Relations and the National Labor Relations
Commission. The Court of Industrial Relations and the National Labor Relations Commission
established under Presidential Decree No. 21 are hereby abolished. All unexpended funds,
properties, equipment and records of the Court of Industrial Relations, and such of its personnel
as may be necessary, are hereby transferred to the Commission and to its regional branches. All
unexpended funds, properties and equipment of the National Labor Relations Commission
established under Presidential Decree No. 21 are transferred to the Bureau of Labor Relations.
Personnel not absorbed by or transferred to the Commission shall enjoy benefits granted under
existing laws.
Art. 299. Disposition of pending cases. All cases pending before the Court of Industrial
Relations and the National Labor Relations Commission established under Presidential Decree
No. 21 on the date of effectivity of this Code shall be transferred to and processed by the
corresponding labor relations divisions or the National Labor Relations Commission created
under this Code having cognizance of the same in accordance with the procedure laid down
herein and its implementing rules and regulations. Cases on labor relations on appeal with the
Secretary of Labor or the Office of the President of the Philippines as of the date of effectivity of
this Code shall remain under their respective jurisdictions and shall be decided in accordance
with the rules and regulations in force at the time of appeal.
All workmen’s compensation cases pending before the Workmen’s Compensation Units
in the regional offices of the Department of Labor and those pending before the Workmen’s
Compensation Commission as of March 31, 1975, shall be processed and adjudicated in
accordance with the law, rules and procedure existing prior to the effectivity of the Employees
Compensation and State Insurance Fund.
Art. 300. Personnel whose services are terminated. Personnel of agencies or any of their
subordinate units whose services are terminated as a result of the implementation of this Code
shall enjoy the rights and protection provided in Sections 5 and 6 of Republic Act numbered
fifty-four hundred and thirty five and such other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. In any
case, no lay-off shall be effected until funds to cover the gratuity and/or retirement benefits of
those laid off are duly certified as available.

4. Art. 301. Separability provisions. If any provision or part of this Code, or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this code, or the
application of such provision or part to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected
thereby.
Art. 302. Repealing clause. All labor laws not adopted as part of this Code either directly or by
reference are hereby repealed. All provisions of existing laws, orders, decrees, rules and
regulations inconsistent herewith are likewise repealed.
Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy four.
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